Ideas for outfitting my CLAM screen room

[Ravella and X]

My daughters got me a great big quickset CLAM screen room for mothers day. Right now, it contains a campsite picnic table, the rug I'm working on and the materials for it, and a couple of totes I wanted out of my garage. Errr, I mean tow vehicle. My smaller outdoor rug is on the ground just inside the door. It is functional. I think it can be much more.

I'm dreaming of comfort, light, cooling and maybe heating, and of course, room to work on my rugs and maybe also making wool felt slippers. I am considering getting a new big outdoor rug to replace my current lanai rug and put the older one in the CLAM. Please make suggestions, modest to outlandish, DIY to turn-key. Help me dream it, ya? No need to tell what isn't practical-- this is the dreaming stage!

 

[maki2]

You will want to reinforce it at the upper and lower corners. Those small loops will get pulled out of the seams with stong winds It wont survive the strong wind gust or a hit by a dust devil. But after reinforcing mine has done so, even survived a night of 55mph gust with sustained 35 mph and also a direct hit by a large dust devil.

If you want I can post some photos of how to reinforce it. You will need wide webbing, luggage staps from Walmart will do. A bent leather sewing needle, heavy duty polester outdoor rated thread. Plus some Etrna bond tape for water proofing and keeping the luggage webbing protected from UV damage. It is all about distibuting the stress and pull off those few little stitches on those short fabric loops and transferring it onto the thick reinforcing materials at the top and bottom corners as well as onto the wide webbing you add.

Decorating is fun, improving durability is however critical for longevity in boondock camping. You do not want to have to take it up and down for everytime the wind goes over 30mph gust. That wind speed is common with thunderstorms and in the desert at Quartzsite. It will last for many years if you reinforce it at the upper and lower hold down points.

 

[user 30781]

You will want to reinforce it at the upper and lower corners.

Like so?

 

[Cammalu]

lanai rug and put the older one in the CLAM. Please make suggestions, modest to outlandish, DIY to turn-key. Help me dream it, ya? No need to tell what isn't practical-- this is the dreaming stage!

Decorating a roundish clam shell? Check!

 

[WanderingRose]

I would add soft, hanging lights of some sort.

Fairy lights, maybe, for early morning coffee or tea, and evenings.

 

[jacqueg]

If you want I can post some photos of how to reinforce it. You will need wide webbing, luggage staps from Walmart will do. A bent leather sewing needle, heavy duty polester outdoor rated thread. Plus some Etrna bond tape for water proofing and keeping the luggage webbing protected from UV damage. It is all about distibuting the stress and pull off those few little stitches on those short fabric loops and transferring it onto the thick reinforcing materials at the top and bottom corners as well as onto the wide webbing you add.

Please do!

 

[MrNoodly]

I chuckled a little, because in my personal (and maybe eccentric) view of the world, the question seems backwards. Rather than, "I have space, what can I put in it?" I'm more inclined to think, "I have this stuff I want/need to enclose." But that's cool, because we all have our own priorities.

 

[Ravella and X]

Maki, the reason I wanted a CLAM and not any other brand is because of reviews like this: https://www.outdoorgearlab.com/reviews/camping-and-hiking/canopy-tent/clam-outdoors-quick-set-escape

I wonder if I really need to fix what isn't broken? I recall Jacque texting me at Q during one of those windstorms that she was watching her CLAM do yoga. There have been some wild winds where I am, and though they have twisted and broken (and carried away) other folks' structures, my Clam has been doing great.

Rose, I definitely want both mood lights and lights to see by. If I get solar kinds, I want the panels to be seperate from the lights themselves, so I don't have to take them outside each day to charge. I also want to be able to turn them off. Not a fan of a desert that looks like a city all night! Maybe I need a whole separate (but small) solar setup for the CLAM? Or if it is just for LED lights, I could set the CLAM close to the Scamp and run an extension cord. Hmm. Time to start window shopping the internet!

Cammalu -- of course! I will aim for apink and orange interior color scheme. Interesting that my hair is at this moment in a Jeanie ponytail! Its currently fading pink and blue, but next time... pink and orange!

MrNoodly, I definitely have stuff to store inside for long term camps. But my tow vehicle is my garage. I hope for the CLAM to be a glamping kind of living room. Maybe some of my totes can become a table base. Hmmm.

WS-- I saw that and thought "macho embroidery" lol

 

[maki2]

Yes Rabella you do need to fix it. I have camped with others who have Clams and the same failure at the same place on the shelter happened to them.

But of course you don't have to fix it until after it gets damaged. I did not. Of course I. Did not realize that area was with a single one inch line of stitcching meant to hold the tent downvery prone to failure.. But I should have realized it as soon as I saw that was a major stress point with inadequate holding power.

You do realize the majority of reviews are wtitten in the 1st few weeks of ownership right? Plus we are different, most campers are not doing it full time. Compared to the average person we put more time on equipment in a week or two than they do in several years. Quartzsite is hell on tents because of the wind.

The sharp rocks at Quartzsite will cut through the atea where the ends of the poles rest on the ground. I use sheets craft foam under those pole ends to protect them from abrasion. Another thing I learned by experience this winter.

A woman I was camped with has a Clam, she is full time. She did a video for Facebook about the use of the pads as her Clam had the ends of the poles wear through the fabric at those lower corners. The wind shifts and lifts the shelter even when it is tied down because the grommets for the stakes are so far out from the corner that movement happens.

 

[Cammalu]

What about using your pareu’s to hang on the inside

 

[bullfrog]

About the wind thing "A stitch in time saves nine!' Just saying! Lol!!!

 

[Ravella and X]

Jacque? Did your CLAM suffer damage at Q? I totally get the sharp rocks thing though. I will definitely protect it from the rocks. The grommets are staked on the inside, and there is barely enough room by the wall for my clumsy mallet swings when staking.

Anyway, thanks for the heads-up. I'm going to focus on dreaming up what I can do to make it homey for now. But I'll keep an eye on the spots you pointed out.

My pareos need to be useful as well as beautiful!

The LTVA is a long-term enough home for me to consider some thrift shop furnishings that I can just re-donate when March rolls around. Oh joy! I get to go in thrift stores again!!!

 

[vanbrat]

You could hang some colorful pocket "shelves" to hang on a wall (Think like the shoe pocket thingies) and matching cushions for your totes if they are strong enough for a footstool or seat. the "shelves can be for your tools and fit into the totes when it is time to close up for the day. Easy to roll up and unroll the next day. I would maybe want some privacy so some 'curtains' for one or 2 sides again maybe part of the pocket shelves. A glass or other fire proof holder for the bug incense stuff I like so much. a drink jug for my tea or water. You can have colorful table cloths and a fan for the hot days. Can you hang solar panels across part of it to power things? Some good led lighting for nights and of course a trash bag to hang off the table. One of those things not for food or yuks just to dry stuff.
Just some thoughts, sounds like something fun to play with

 

[user 30781]

What size are your CLAM screen rooms, Ravella and maki?

 

[jacqueg]

Jacque? Did your CLAM suffer damage at Q? I totally get the sharp rocks thing though. I will definitely protect it from the rocks. The grommets are staked on the inside, and there is barely enough room by the wall for my clumsy mallet swings when staking.

Yes, some minor damage. I can still pitch it and use it just fine, but better to fix it and, hopefully, strengthen it. Haven't fixed it yet, but maki is absolutely correct about reinforcing stress points. I am also going to beef up the guy lines.

Yes, it was pretty amazing the contortions it went through, but not a single pole broke. The company actually recommends you take it down when it's windy, it's not sold as a bad weather tent/shelter. But I decided to buy it anyway after watching this Steve Wallis vid - (His is the very similar Gazelle.)

BTW, it sounds like you are using the tent stakes that come with it. A better option is to ditch those stakes and instead use a power drill with the proper socket to drive an 8" SPAX bolt into the ground. That's what Abnorm uses for anything he stakes out. https://www.homedepot.com/p/SPAX-3-...Zinc-Coated-Lag-Screw-4571010102037/202041050

 

[bullfrog]

^^^And ball bungies between the stake and grommets.

 

[WanderingRose]

You can get battery operated soft lights, I believe, and go for something else battery operated for a brighter, reading light.

I think adding solar panels to power these would be more trouble than you want, but that’s me.

If you’re just looking for a little light morning and evening, I would go with battery operated.

 

[bullfrog]

Ryobi makes a power station that is powered by their 18 volt tool batteries.. They also have a 12 volt vehicle charger for the 18 volt batteries so you can charge with your vehicle or solar.

 

[Ravella and X]

Thanks Vanbrat and Rose! You both gave me good ideas I can work with.

WS, its 96 sq ft -- 140 inches across the circle.

Froggy, I saw that ryobi thing briefly in the store. I will look into it more. Maybe I get that and a drill and the SPAX bolts. And maybe I wait a bit lol. Sounds like an expensive one-trick pony!

Thank you all for the ideas : )

 

[maki2]

Keeping belongings to the minimum is still important. It gets exhausting packing up a bunch of stuff on hot summer days when breaking camp and then the next day setting up a new camp.

It is very tempting to "play house" and get carried away with fun furniture and accessories. But before long you will find yourself wanting to downsize from those recent acquisitions.

Stick to what you know about yourself as far as will you end up getting rid of stuff because you get fed up,with the packing up and setting up chores. Use the mantra "need versus want" to restain the tendency to over indulge yourself in glamping clutter. Make it all do triple duty functions and not just look fun and charming. We do this full time, those Glamping girls just do it now and again, often for photo shoots or big gatherings.

Color is your biggest impact for the least money. The colors can make you feel like you are doing a lot of happy glamping, so chairs, rugs, some colorful shower curtains as wall or ceiling coverings will fill that ticket without a lot of momey or extra stuff to deal with. The fun, colorful cloth, shower curtains have a useful function, a private shower room partioned into a corner of the tent!